Dog translation device -- barking mad or marketing marvel?
By Ayako Oguni
Mainichi Shimbun
A new device that converts dogs' yelps into words is quickly gaining the attention of canine lovers, but some say its makers could be barking up the wrong tree.
The device, dubbed "Bow-lingual," is set to hit the shelves in February next year. Produced by toy manufacturer Takara Co. Ltd., it will retail for 12,800 yen.
A small microphone attached to the dog's collar decodes the tone of any barks it picks up and zaps the information to a portable hand-sized display. After separating the dog's barks into one of six emotional categories, the device emits such phrases as "I'm annoyed" or "I've done it!" through a speaker. At the end of the day, it sums up the dog's feelings, saying things like, "I'm a bit lonely today."
In creating data for the dog's barks, the manufacturer collected about 2,000 sounds from 100 dogs. Since Takara announced it would begin selling the devices, it has gained attention from media in Japan and overseas.
"It seems like the trial device is the first of its kind," a Takara spokesman said. The toy maker is also reportedly receiving calls from pet owners asking them to create a similar device for cats.
However, some have their doubts about the gadget.
"It's like a dream, but you probably don't need it to build good ties with your dog," said Australian shepherd dog owner Chiho Mizutani. "It would be ridiculous for a machine to understand my dog's feelings better than me," the 18-year-old said.
Takara, which employed the help of animal movement study specialists in developing the decoder, says it aims for "90 percent accuracy" in converting canines' barks into speech, but experts say accurate translation remains impossible.
"There are no objective standards when it comes to judging dogs' feelings. Even if leading technology is used, accurate translation is impossible," said Yoichi Tokura of the NTT Science and Core Technology Laboratory Group. "Communication with animals is fun precisely because owners can interpret their responses however they like."
Others warn that the translator could lead to owners unnecessarily trying to force communication with their pets.
"It will be all right if dogs don't suffer stress from their owners going out of their way to make them bark," said a doubtful Fumio Imoto, of the Society for the Study of Human-Animal Relations. "Dogs don't make much noise when they are satisfied or having a good time. It's when they are uneasy, want something or are assuming a threat that they bark. But I suppose it's fun for the owners to 'hear' those feelings in words."
Takara hopes to sell at least 200,000 of the gadgets. It has even planned a system tentatively entitled "bow-lingual mail" that automatically e-mails translations of a dog's barks to its owner.
So will the decoding devices sell hot off the shelves? Imoto predicts they will. "Today, when a veterinarian says something won't be popular, it sells wildly."
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